diff --git a/include/common/net_helper.h b/include/common/net_helper.h
index 7897514..7d5636d 100644
--- a/include/common/net_helper.h
+++ b/include/common/net_helper.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
  * This file contains miscellaneous network helper functions.
  *
  * Copyright (C) 2017 Olivier Houchard
+ * Copyright (C) 2017 Willy Tarreau
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
  * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
@@ -26,50 +27,151 @@
 #ifndef _COMMON_NET_HELPER_H
 #define _COMMON_NET_HELPER_H
 
+#include <common/compiler.h>
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 
-/* Functions to read various integer that may be unaligned */
+/* Functions to read various integers that may be unaligned */
 
-/* Read a uint16_t */
-static inline uint16_t readu16(const void *p)
+/* Read a uint16_t in native host order */
+static inline uint16_t read_u16(const void *p)
 {
         const union {  uint16_t u16; } __attribute__((packed))*u = p;
         return u->u16;
 }
 
-/* Read a int16_t */
-static inline int16_t readi16(const void *p)
+/* Read a uint32_t in native host order */
+static inline uint32_t read_u32(const void *p)
 {
-        const union {  int16_t i16; } __attribute__((packed))*u = p;
-        return u->i16;
+        const union {  uint32_t u32; } __attribute__((packed))*u = p;
+        return u->u32;
 }
 
-/* Read a uint16_t, and convert from network order to host order */
-static inline uint16_t readn16(const void *p)
+/* Read a possibly wrapping number of bytes <bytes> into destination <dst>. The
+ * first segment is composed of <s1> bytes at p1. The remaining byte(s), if any,
+ * are read from <p2>. <s1> may be zero and may also be larger than <bytes>. The
+ * caller is always responsible for providing enough bytes. Note: the function
+ * is purposely *not* marked inline to let the compiler decide what to do with
+ * it, because it's around 34 bytes long, placed on critical path but rarely
+ * called, and uses uses a lot of arguments if not inlined. The compiler will
+ * thus decide what's best to do with it depending on the context.
+ */
+static void readv_bytes(void *dst, const size_t bytes, const void *p1, size_t s1, const void *p2)
 {
-        const union {  uint16_t u16; } __attribute__((packed))*u = p;
-        return ntohs(u->u16);
+	size_t idx;
+
+	p2 -= s1;
+	for (idx = 0; idx < bytes; idx++) {
+		if (idx == s1)
+			p1 = p2;
+		((uint8_t *)dst)[idx] = ((const uint8_t *)p1)[idx];
+	}
+	/* this memory barrier is critical otherwise gcc may over-optimize this
+	 * code, completely removing it as well as any surrounding boundary
+	 * check (4.7.1..6.4.0)!
+	 */
+	__asm__ volatile("" ::: "memory");
 }
 
-/* Read a uint32_t */
-static inline uint32_t readu32(const void *p)
+/* Read a possibly wrapping uint16_t in native host order. The first segment is
+ * composed of <s1> bytes at p1. The remaining byte(s), if any, are read from
+ * <p2>. <s1> may be zero and may be larger than the type. The caller is always
+ * responsible for providing enough bytes.
+ */
+static inline uint16_t readv_u16(const void *p1, size_t s1, const void *p2)
 {
-        const union {  uint32_t u32; } __attribute__((packed))*u = p;
-        return u->u32;
+	if (unlikely(s1 == 1)) {
+		volatile uint16_t u16;
+
+		((uint8_t *)&u16)[0] = *(uint8_t *)p1;
+		((uint8_t *)&u16)[1] = *(uint8_t *)p2;
+		return u16;
+	}
+	else {
+		const union {  uint16_t u16; } __attribute__((packed)) *u;
+
+		u = (s1 == 0) ? p2 : p1;
+		return u->u16;
+	}
+}
+
+/* Read a possibly wrapping uint32_t in native host order. The first segment is
+ * composed of <s1> bytes at p1. The remaining byte(s), if any, are read from
+ * <p2>. <s1> may be zero and may be larger than the type. The caller is always
+ * responsible for providing enough bytes.
+ */
+static inline uint32_t readv_u32(const void *p1, size_t s1, const void *p2)
+{
+	uint32_t u32;
+
+	if (!unlikely(s1 < sizeof(u32)))
+		u32 = read_u32(p1);
+	else
+		readv_bytes(&u32, sizeof(u32), p1, s1, p2);
+	return u32;
+}
+
+/* Signed integer versions : return the same data but signed */
+
+/* Read an int16_t in native host order */
+static inline int16_t read_i16(const void *p)
+{
+	return read_u16(p);
 }
 
-/* Read a int32_t */
-static inline int16_t readi32(const void *p)
+/* Read an int32_t in native host order */
+static inline int32_t read_i32(const void *p)
 {
-        const union {  int32_t i32; } __attribute__((packed))*u = p;
-        return u->i32;
+	return read_u32(p);
 }
 
+/* Read a possibly wrapping int16_t in native host order */
+static inline int16_t readv_i16(const void *p1, size_t s1, const void *p2)
+{
+	return readv_u16(p1, s1, p2);
+}
+
+/* Read a possibly wrapping int32_t in native host order */
+static inline int32_t readv_i32(const void *p1, size_t s1, const void *p2)
+{
+	return readv_u32(p1, s1, p2);
+}
+
+/* Read a uint16_t, and convert from network order to host order */
+static inline uint16_t read_n16(const void *p)
+{
+	return ntohs(read_u16(p));
+}
+
 /* Read a uint32_t, and convert from network order to host order */
-static inline uint32_t readn32(const void *p)
+static inline uint32_t read_n32(const void *p)
 {
-        const union {  uint32_t u32; } __attribute__((packed))*u = p;
-        return ntohl(u->u32);
+	return ntohl(read_u32(p));
+}
+
+/* Read a possibly wrapping uint16_t in network order. The first segment is
+ * composed of <s1> bytes at p1. The remaining byte(s), if any, are read from
+ * <p2>. <s1> may be zero and may be larger than the type. The caller is always
+ * responsible for providing enough bytes.
+ */
+static inline uint16_t readv_n16(const void *p1, size_t s1, const void *p2)
+{
+	if (unlikely(s1 < 2)) {
+		if (s1 == 0)
+			p1 = p2++;
+	}
+	else
+		p2 = p1 + 1;
+	return (*(uint8_t *)p1 << 8) + *(uint8_t *)p2;
+}
+
+/* Read a possibly wrapping uint32_t in network order. The first segment is
+ * composed of <s1> bytes at p1. The remaining byte(s), if any, are read from
+ * <p2>. <s1> may be zero and may be larger than the type. The caller is always
+ * responsible for providing enough bytes.
+ */
+static inline uint32_t readv_n32(const void *p1, size_t s1, const void *p2)
+{
+	return ntohl(readv_u32(p1, s1, p2));
 }
 
 #endif /* COMMON_NET_HELPER_H */